Lesson Plan: Germs and Disease Transmission

Grades:​ Kindergarten

Overview
a. This lesson plan is focused on germ awareness and will be geared towards young children
ranging from 4-5 years old. The children will be broken up into 5 groups consisting of
6-8 kids/group. This lesson plan will be executed at a workshop station that is part of a
larger health fair that will take place in the Fairhaven Cafeteria building on the campus of
WWU and will be designed specifically for children from the Child Development Center
(also on the WWU campus).

Duration: ​20 minutes

Objectives
● Cognitive Objective:​ 80% of students will classify, as presented in the workshop station, the
difference between dirty hands and clean hands at the end of the activities.
● Affective Objective: ​80% of students will show a willingness according to the guidelines
presented in the workshop to wash hands in the future.
● Psychomotor Objective:​ 80% of students will demonstrate proper hand washing technique as
shown in the workshop.

Resources and Materials

b. Bread showcase
i. Four pieces of prepared bread in sandwich bags prepared a week prior to show
the growth of bacteria after different types of hand cleaning interventions.
1. Control slice: single slice of bread untouched by human hands sealed in a
plastic bag 7 days prior to presentation
2. No intervention slice: single slice of bread touch with hands that have not
been washed or sanitized in 3 hours sealed in a plastic bag 7 days prior to
presentation
3. Hand sanitizer intervention slice: single slice of bread touched by hands
that were sanitized with hand sanitizer a few minutes prior to touching
the bread sealed in a plastic bag 7 days prior to presentation.
4. Hand washing (with soap) internetion: single slice of bread touched by
recently washed hands (proper 20 second technique, soap, and hot water)
sealed in a plastic bag 7 days prior to presentation.
c. Paint-washing
i. 60 pairs of latex gloves (small/white), pink washable paint, tarp/paint clothes,
aprons, wipes
d. Hand sanitizer and black light
i. Hand sanitizer, black light
 e. General
i. Waste bin, paper towels, accessible sink, table

Activities/Procedure
Welcome: Mini-lecture and 1. Gather and organize students into small cluster around
Presentation table
(Time: 7 minutes) 2. Introduce presenters (Anna, Kameron and I)
3. Ice-breaker question for kids to answer out-loud: “Do
any of you know what germs are?”
a. Have kids shout-out answers
4. Collect focus to presenters and give the actual definition
of germs
a. “​a microorganism, especially one which causes
disease”
b. In age-appropriate language: “a really small
organisms that often causes sickness”
5. Another question to pose for the kids: “Did you know
that some germs are invisible?”
a. Explain how germs can often be forgotten about
because they cannot be seen by the naked eye.
6. Last Question for kids: “Do you know how to stop the
spread of germs?”
a. Let kids shout out answers
7. Explain that hand-washing is the most effective way to
stop germs in their tracks
a. Explain to the kids that they are hand-washing
warriors!
b. Hand-washing techniques
i. 20 seconds (happy birthday trick)
ii. Lots of lather
iii. Hot water
iv. Wash after bathroom, outdoor activities,
touching animals, airports, etc.
v. Ask for help from family!
8. Pass around prepared bread experiment to show how
germs can grow when hands are not washed.
a. The simple act of washing hands can slow the
progression of germ growth as well as keep you
safe!
 Paint Washing (main activity)
(Time: 10 minutes)
Demonstration of correct hand-washing technique
1. An instructor should put on a pair of gloves and put a
small amount of pain in their hand
2. They will then show how to properly wash their hands
using the paint as an indicator of whether or not they
have thoroughly washed/applied soap
3. Supply each participant with a pair of gloves
4. Have each student place their hands out in front of them
and then apply a small amount of paint on the palm of
each students hands
5. Sing a song that lasts approximately 20 seconds (“Happy
Birthday”) as you walk through the proper way to wash
your hands
6. At the end of the activity, assist each child with
removing their gloves and dispose of in the waste bin

Black Light and Hand Sanitizer
Demonstration
(Alternative Activity)
(Time: 8 minutes)
Visual demonstration of how much germs live on your hands
and how much germs hand sanitizer can eliminate
1. An instructor will organize students to stand side by side
2. They will then walk down the line with a black light and
shine it on each students hand to expose the amount of
germs on their hands
3. Once students have each seen the germs on their hands
the instructor will squirt hand sanitizer on their hands
4. Students will rub hand sanitizer, coating their entire hand
5. The instructor will then repeat step 2 to show how much
germs the hand sanitizer killed

Evaluation
The evaluation will take place in the form of questions being asked to each group that comes to the
station. If 80% of the students correctly answer each of the questions listed below after participating in the
workshop than the objective will be successfully met:
ii. What should you always use when washing your hands?
1. Answer: soap
iii. How long should you wash your hands for?
1. Answer: 20 seconds
iv. What is the best way to prevent the spread of germs?
1. Washing your hands